Package construction

ABSTRACT

A package construction in which a blank has zones of adhesive along the edges of the end flaps and pivotally mounted tabs adjacent said flaps to permit the flaps to be held between the adhesive areas so that the box will stand upright.

United States Patent n 1 II II 1 3,862,713

Froehlig 1 1 Jan. 28, 1975 [54] PACKAGE CONSTRUCTION 2,026.698 1/1936 fgclsun 229/D91g/4g 2217.504 10 1940 cr fit "n I 1 lnvemflrl g s fl- Cmlcgc 2634.046 4/1953 wait. .2 229/34 R u FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [73] Ass'gnee y 6 'Q' 79,063 3/1955 Denmark 229/34 R ege 12.39am 3/1961 Frnncc 229/34 R 2 Filed; Nov. 3 1972 1.198.156 12/1959 Fruncc.... 229/34 R 1.239.460 7/1960 Franccm. 229/34 R [21] Appl. No.: 303,317 1,158,190 6/1958 France 229/34 R 62 Related U'S' Applicamm Data Irimary I5.\'unIiIIcr-WiIlium 1. Price 1 1 12231? Assistant E.\'aminerD0ug1us B Farrow Attorney, Agent, or Firm-H0112Ind. Armstrong, Wilkic 52 us. C1. 229/33, 229/32, 229/34 R, Prev 229/D1G. 4 51 Int. Cl 865d 5/22 1571 ABSTRACT 53 n w f Search n 229/32 34 R 33 DIG 4 A package construction in which a blank has zones of adhesive along the edges of the end flaps and pivotally 5 References Ci d mounted tabs adjacent said flaps to permit the flaps In UNITED STATES PATENTS be held between the adhesive areas so that the box 873,335 12/1907 Wymun 229 34 R Stand 1,084,394 1/1914 Brown 229/34 R 8 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PACKAGE CONSTRUCTION This is a division of application Ser. No. l80,694 filed Sept 15, 1971 now US. Pat. No. 3,752,386.

DESCRIPTION The present invention is directed to a container and more particularly to an improved container which can be easily converted from a flat position to an upright position.

In the past, many boxes or containers for packaging goods are already upright with their side end walls assembled together in three dimensional configuration. It has been found that shipping and storage of such cartons is difficult and expensive because of the volume the cartons take. It has thus become desirable to utilize a box which lies flat and which can be set upright when the package is being filled. In the past, flat boxes have been used but they utilize interfitting fingers and slits or other notches. Other flat boxes use crease lines and some of them have been formed by gluing the various flaps together at the time they are set up.

These prior flat boxes are not as sturdy as those which are prefabricated in three dimensional form and setting them up is a time consuming and expensive operation.

The present invention overcomes these defects and provides a box which may be stored and shipped in flat position and which then can be easily assembled into its upright position by the operator.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved box which can be assembled without the need of applying adhesive immediately before assembly.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved box which can be assembled in upright position without the necessity of using slits and fingers.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved box which can be easily assembled into upright position wherein the finished product looks like a preassembled box.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view showing the box in upright position made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the blank in its flat position before it is assembled;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the manner of assembling one end of the box;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showinganother em bodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is an elevational view of the flat blank used for making the box shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the manner of assembling one end of the box.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and to FIGS. 1 to 7, the present invention comprises a blank 1 having a face panel 2 hingedly connected to end walls 3 and side walls 4 by fold lines 23 and 20 respectively. Each side wall 4 is provided with a tab 5 hingedly connected thereto by fold 25 and each end wall 3 is provided with a tab 6 hingedly connected thereto by fold line 24. Each of the side walls 4 is connected to a flap 7 by hinge line 25. The flap 7 as shown in the drawing is provided with a tab 8 hingedly connected thereto by hinge line 21.

The tabs 5, 6 and 8 and the areas 205, 206 and 208 on the opposite tabs 5, 6, 8 on side walls 3, 4 and flaps 7 on the other side of hinge lines 22, 24 and 25 are provided with a so-called self-sticking adhesive. In addition, area 209 perpendicular to area 208 on flap 7 is also provided with self-sticking adhesive. The adhesive areas 205, 206, 208 and 209 are preferably the same width as the tabs 5, 6 and 8.

The type of adhesive which is used is one that will stick to another adhesive of the same type, but will not stick vto a surface that does not have an adhesive thereon. Therefore, when the-blanks are laying flat and then surfaces which do not have adhesive thereon comes in contact with it, the adhesive will not stick to it. However, when one of the tabs 5, 6 and 8 is folded around its respective hinge line so its adhesive contacts adhesive areas 205, 206, 208 or 209, as the case may be, the adhesives on both sides will adhere to each other to provide a tight seal. One of the adhesives which is effective is a contact type cement which, when dry, will stick to itself but not to a non-adhesive surface. However, other similar adhesives can be used, if desired.

In setting the box upright, the side walls are first placed in an upright position, perpendicular to the bottom panel 2 around hinge lines 20. The flaps 7 are then turned inwardly around hinge line 21 and the tabs 8 are turned inwardly along hinge line 22 so that its adhesive sticks to adhesive area 208 to maintain the tabs 8 in flattened position as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. The end wall 3 is then moved upwardly around hinge line 23 so that it assumes a position perpendicular to the panel 2. The tab 6 is then swung around hinge line 24 over the top wall offlap 7 so that its adhesive comes into contact with the adhesive areas 209 on flap 7 and sticks with it to keep it in place to complete the box as shown in FIG. 1. The adhesive on tab 6 is also preferably pressed against adhesive area 206 to keep it in place.

The adhesive will make the various tabs lie flat to give a finished look not only at the corners but at the edges. It will be noticed that the tabs 6 also becomes superimposed over the tabs 8 to hold them in position and out of view. While the tabs 8 have been shown in the drawing, it is within the purview of the invention to eliminate the tabs 8 so as to avoid the extra thickness if that is desired.

The hinge lines 20 through 24 are wide and are shown in detail in FIG. 6. They are wide enough to accomodate the thickness of the various end walls and flaps. In the preferred form of the invention, the various panels and end wall flaps are comprised of a laminated material as shown, for example, in FIGS. 6 and 7. For example, the face panel 2 is made up of an outer laminate 2a to inner laminate 2b and the side wall 4 is made up of outer laminate 4a and inner laminate 4b. With this construction, the outer laminate of the side and face panel are one piece and the inner laminate is also made integral with each other. However, wide strips of the inner laminate are removed to form the various hinge lines. Alternately, it is possible to accomplish the same purpose by using a wall board which is not laminated, in which case the hinge lines are formed by literally removing the wide strip approximately half the thickness of the board.

Referring now to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, a similar box is shown adapted to be used in connection with a box having a hinged cover. As shown in the drawings, the face panel 2 has side walls 104 connected thereto by hinge 120 and has end walls 103 connected thereto by hinge 123. The side walls have flaps 107 hingedly connected thereto by hinge 121. The flaps 107 have tabs 108 connected thereto by hinge line 122. End walls 103 have tabs 106 connected thereto by hinge line 124. In this respect, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 through 11 is similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. I to 7.

However, one of the side walls 104 has the tab 105 hingedly connected thereto by hinge line 125 with the adhesive affixed thereto whereas the other side wall 104 has a cover 140 hingedly connected thereto by hinge line 141. The wall 146 has end flaps 142 and end tab 143 extending therefrom. With the self-sticking adhesive zones in the same areas shown in the embodiment of FIG. 7, it will be noted that a finished box is formed with a hinged cover 140.

It will thus be seen that the present invention overcomes these defects and provides a box which may be manufactured in flat position and shipped flat and then can be easily assembled into its upright position by the operator. The invention provides an improved box which can be assembled without the need of applying adhesive at the time of assembly without the necessity of using slits, fingers and crease lines.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. I

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A package comprising a face panel, a first pair of wall panels extending from first pair of opposed edges of said face panel, a second pair of wall panels extending from second pair of opposed edges of said face panels, each of said first and second pair of wall panels having opposed end and side edges with one of said side edges of each pair of wall panels in pivotal relationship to the respective opposed edges of said face panel along hinge lines, a flap extending from each end edge of each of said first pair of wall panels and pivotly mounted thereto along a hinge line, a tab extending from each of the side edges of the second pair of wall panels and pivotly mounted thereto along a hinge line, one of said first pair of wall panels having a tab extending therefrom and the other of said first pair of wall panels having a cover panel extending therefrom and hingedly connected thereto, a flap tab extending from the side of each flap opposite its hinge line, adhesive on all of said tabs and on the edges of the wall panels along the areas adjacent said tabs, adhesive on said flap coextensive with the adhesive on said wall panels, said flaps being folded along their hinge lines with the wall panels in upright position and with the flaps adjacent said second pair of wall panels and said tabs being folded along the hinge lines with at least part of the flaps interposed between the flaps tabs and the second pair of wall panels and the adhesive on the tabs maintaining the flaps in position. i

2. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said adhesive is a self-sticking adhesive.

3. A package as claimed in claim 2 wherein said hinge lines comprise areas of lesser thickness than the thickness of said panels.

4. A package as claimed in claim 3 wherein said package comprises at least a pair of laminations, the inner lamination having predetermined areas removed therefrom to form said hinge lines.

5. A package blank comprising a face panel, a first pair of wall panels extending from first pair of opposed edges of said face panel, a second pair of wall panels extending from second pair of opposied edges of said face panels, each of said first and second pair of wall panels having opposed end and side edges with one of said side edges of each pair of wall panels in pivoted relationship to the respective opposed edges of said face panel along hinge lines, a flap extending from each end edge of each of said first pair of wall panels and pivotly mounted thereto along a hinge line, a tab extending from each of the side edges of the second pair of wall panels and pivotly mounted thereto along a hinge line, one of said first pair of wall panels having a tab extending therefrom and the other of said first pair of wall panels having a cover panel extending therefrom and hingedly connected thereto, a flap tab extending from the side of each flap opposite its hinge line, adhesive on all of said tabs and on the edges of the wall panels along the areas adjacent said tabs, adhesive on said flap coextensive with the adhesive on said wall panel, said flaps being foldable along their hinge lines with the wall panels in upright position and with the flaps adjacent said second pair of wall panels and said tabs foldable along the hinge lines with at least part of the flaps interposed between the flap tabs and the second pair of wall panels and the adhesive on the tabs for maintaining the flaps in position.

6. A package blank as claimed in claim 5 wherein said adhesive is a self-sticking adhesive.

7. A package blank as claimed in claim 6 wherein said hinge lines comprise areas of lesser thickness than the thickness of said panels.

8. A package blank as claimed in claim 7 wherein said package comprises at least a pair of laminations, the inner lamination having predetermined areas removed therefrom to form said hinge lines. 

1. A package comprising a face panel, a first pair of wall panels extending from first pair of opposed edges of said face panel, a second pair of wall panels extending from second pair of opposed edges of said face panels, each of said first and second pair of wall panels having opposed end and side edges with one of said side edges of each pair of wall panels in pivotal relationship to the respective opposed edges of said face panel along hinge lines, a flap extending from each end edge of each of said first pair of wall panels and pivotly mounted thereto along a hinge line, a tab extending from each of the side edges of the second pair of wall panels and pivotly mounted thereto along a hinge line, one of said first pair of wall panels having a tab extending therefrom and the other of said first pair of wall panels having a cover panel extending therefrom and hingedly connected thereto, a flap tab extending from the side of each flap opposite its hinge line, adhesive on all of said tabs and on the edges of the wall panels along the areas adjacent said tabs, adhesive on said flap coextensive with the adhesive on said wall panels, said flaps being folded along their hinge lines with the wall panels in upright position and with the flaps adjacent said second pair of wall panels and said tabs being folded along the hinge lines with at least part of the flaps interposed between the flaps tabs and the second pair of wall panels and the adhesive on the tabs maintaining the flaps in position.
 2. A package as claimed in claim 1 wherein said adhesive is a self-sticking adhesive.
 3. A package as claimed in claim 2 wherein said hinge lines comprise areas of lesser thickness than the thickness of said panels.
 4. A package as claimed in claim 3 wherein said package comprises at least a pair of laminations, the inner lamination having predetermined areas removEd therefrom to form said hinge lines.
 5. A package blank comprising a face panel, a first pair of wall panels extending from first pair of opposed edges of said face panel, a second pair of wall panels extending from second pair of opposied edges of said face panels, each of said first and second pair of wall panels having opposed end and side edges with one of said side edges of each pair of wall panels in pivoted relationship to the respective opposed edges of said face panel along hinge lines, a flap extending from each end edge of each of said first pair of wall panels and pivotly mounted thereto along a hinge line, a tab extending from each of the side edges of the second pair of wall panels and pivotly mounted thereto along a hinge line, one of said first pair of wall panels having a tab extending therefrom and the other of said first pair of wall panels having a cover panel extending therefrom and hingedly connected thereto, a flap tab extending from the side of each flap opposite its hinge line, adhesive on all of said tabs and on the edges of the wall panels along the areas adjacent said tabs, adhesive on said flap coextensive with the adhesive on said wall panel, said flaps being foldable along their hinge lines with the wall panels in upright position and with the flaps adjacent said second pair of wall panels and said tabs foldable along the hinge lines with at least part of the flaps interposed between the flap tabs and the second pair of wall panels and the adhesive on the tabs for maintaining the flaps in position.
 6. A package blank as claimed in claim 5 wherein said adhesive is a self-sticking adhesive.
 7. A package blank as claimed in claim 6 wherein said hinge lines comprise areas of lesser thickness than the thickness of said panels.
 8. A package blank as claimed in claim 7 wherein said package comprises at least a pair of laminations, the inner lamination having predetermined areas removed therefrom to form said hinge lines. 